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Ninth Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD ABS 9)

22-28 March 2010 | Santiago de Cali, Colombia

Highlights for Monday, 22 March 2010

Parque de la Solidaridad

Delegates to the ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in plenary throughout the day. In the morning, all regional groups expressed their willingness to work on the basis of a draft protocol text tabled by the Co-Chairs. In the afternoon, delegates presented specific issues of concern in the text. A celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity was hosted by the government of Colombia in the evening.

Opening Plenary

Working Group Co-Chair Timothy Hodges (Canada) opened the meeting and expressed his gratitude to the host government of Colombia.

Yadir Salazar Mejía, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia, stressed the need for cooperation in monitoring and enforcing compliance with national access legislation.

Working Group Co-Chair Fernando Casas (Colombia) recalled the intersessional work completed since ABS 8, noting that Parties have never been so close to reaching consensus.

Participants during the plenary session.

Jochen Flasbarth, on behalf of the German COP Presidency, called on delegates to focus on key issues and show flexibility in reaching agreement.

Gurdial Singh (Malaysia) recalled the understanding at the Friends of the Co-Chairs’ meeting on ensuring benefit-sharing from derivatives and on placing compliance at the core of the protocol.

Nancy Hamzawi (Canada) noted that the draft COP decision should present a range of options on the instrument/instruments on the ABS regime, without prejudice to its/their nature.

Paulino Franco de Carvalho Neto (Brazil) called for a streamlined and comprehensive draft protocol with compliance at its centre.

Alejandro Lago (Spain), drew attention to the Conclusions of the EU Council of Environment Ministers supporting work towards a protocol to the CBD.

Tania Temata (Cook Islands), for the ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION, called for the explicit inclusion of derivatives in the international regime.

Michael Halewood, Bioversity International, recommended that the international regime explicitly create space for more specialized ABS norm development in the future.

Leonor Zalabata, International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), expressed disappointment that indigenous rights and interests have not been taken into account in the draft protocol text despite their inclusion in the Montreal Annex.

Janet Lowe (New Zealand), on behalf of the LIKE-MINDED IN SPIRIT GROUP OF WOMEN, called for the inclusion of gender perspectives in the draft protocol.

Kim Chan-woo (Republic of Korea)

Birgitte Valen (Norway)

Yo Osumi (Japan)

Snežana Prokić (Serbia)

Delegates from Costa Rica and Cook Islands chatted during a short break.

L-R: Working Group Co-Chairs Tim Hodges and Fernando Casas shared a laugh before adjourning the meeting.

International Year of Biodiversity Celebration

Carlos Costa Posada, Minister of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, Colombia, was interviewed by the media.